Monday, January 28, 2013

Monday Message

It was a busy weekend for the Lowell community! International Night and the WEF Spelling Bee!

International Night
Thank you for coming, bringing such amazing displays, and sharing such wonderful dishes.  The night was a huge success! A special thank you to Deb Ortiz and Yolyett Holmann who organized the entire event.  Thank you to the PTO for their support as well. Photos of the event to follow!

WEF Spelling Bee
Our students represented the Lowell school well in the district wide spelling bee yesterday. Thank you to all who came and participated! The WEF supports many projects in our schools, including our school newspaper!

Contacting the School
In the main lobby of the school you will find a phone list that has contact numbers and extensions for various school staff.  Please pick one up if you do not have one. In addition to the main office phone, the numbers below will be useful for you.

Nurse Taverna: 617-923-6475
Guidance/Student Services (Mrs Knight and Mr Roberst): 617-923-6266


Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Weekly Message

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend. Teachers had a very productive professional development day yesterday.

International Night
International Night is THIS Friday, January 25th from 6-8pm in the cafeteria and the gym. Come visit the hall of countries and take part in the pot luck dinner.  There will be 30 countries represented! If you can, please bring a dish to share.

ChopChop Magazine
In the spirit of international night which integrates the themes of food and family, all students will receive an issue of ChopChop Magazine! ChopChop is a locally produced food and cooking magazine for children and their families.

Recess
At times, inclement weather forces us to have indoor recess. Today, with a temperature below 20 degrees, we will have indoor recess.  We get our students out as much as possible, but sometimes it is just too cold.

Drop Off Reminder
Today was a better day in terms of drop off.  By the time the doors were shut there were no cars waiting to drop off. Please help us get our students in on time (and help to reduce your wait time in line) by
-Pulling all the way up on Lowell Avenue (to the second crosswalk).
-Remaining in your car.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Monday Message

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Some reminders and updates for you:

Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten registration begins this week.  Visit the site below for registration information.
http://watertown.k12.ma.us/lowell/index.html

Upcoming Holiday and Professional Development
There will be no school on Monday, January 21st and on Tuesday, January 22nd for Martin Luther King Jr Day and for a professional development day.


PTO Meeting
The PTO meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 15th at 7:00 pm in the Lowell lounge.  Mr Spano will be our teacher representative at the meeting. Please come!

Site Council
School Site Council will meet on Thursday, January 17th at 7:00 pm in the Lowell lounge.  Everyone is invited to attend.  We will be engaging in an exercise that involves brainstorming ideas for school improvement.

Get Involved.
Parental involvement in schools can have a positive result on student achievement. Please consider getting involved in our school community.

The Lowell Community Volunteer Program (LCVP) is in need of parent volunteers to support teachers with administrative tasks on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  Volunteers are also needed on Fridays for Recess in Grades 1-3.  Volunteers do no work alone!  They are supported by the LCVP Coordinators and are paired up with other parent volunteers.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Deb Ortiz at ortiz60@hotmail.com or lowellvolunteers@gmail.com

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

More updates

Some additional updates...

PTO Meeting
The PTO meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 15th at 7:00 pm in the Lowell lounge.  Mr Spano will be our teacher representative at the meeting. Please come!

Site Council
School Site Council will meet on Thursday, January 17th at 7:00 pm in the Lowell lounge.  Everyone is invited to attend.  We will be engaging in an exercise that involves brainstorming ideas for school improvement.

Get Involved.
Parental involvement in schools can have a positive result on student achievement. Please consider getting involved in our school community.

The Lowell Community Volunteer Program (LCVP) is in need of parent volunteers to support teachers with administrative tasks on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  Volunteers are also needed on Fridays for Recess in Grades 1-3.  Volunteers do no work alone!  They are supported by the LCVP Coordinators and are paired up with other parent volunteers.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Deb Ortiz at ortiz60@hotmail.com or lowellvolunteers@gmail.com



Monday, January 7, 2013

Monday Message

We had a great, short week at the Lowell last week. Some new information and some reminders:

Drop Off
Please adhere to the following procedures when dropping off your student in the morning:.

• All students should exit their car from the passenger side.
Pull as far down Lowell Avenue as possible to drop off.
Do not park and get out of your vehicle, we need to move the cars quickly and safely.
• Drive slowly and observe carefully. Walkers are arriving to school too!


Also, parking on both sides of York Avenue is prohibited.

The snow (of which we had little to none last year) has reminded us that not adhering to drop off and parking procedures causes a back up and results in many tardy students. Thank you!


Kindergarten Information Night

Kindergarten information night will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, January 8th. Parents/Guardians of children entering Kindergarten and/or Pre-Kindergarten in the fall of 2013 are invited to attend this information meeting.  You will…..
 learn about early education in Watertown
 find out when to register your child
 learn how to register your child for school
 ask questions about early education and registration
 pick up registration packets*
Parents should attend the session held at their neighborhood school

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has enjoyed vacation. I wish you a Happy New Year! I am confident that 2013 will be an amazing year for the Lowell school community. I have a few updates and reminders for you this week.

Principal's Coffee

The next parent coffee will be for parents of students in grades 4 and 5.  It will be held in the Lowell lounge on Thursday, January 24th at 8:30 am.  Topics will include: curriculum, instruction, assessment, and much more!  Every grade will have a principal's coffee.  More information on the K-2 coffee events to come!

Security Reminders

  • All doors at the Lowell are locked at all times.  This now means that our PreK students will now enter with everyone else through the main entrance.  This also means, that students will not be able to wait in the vestibule (between the two sets of doors).  Main office doors will be open by staff at 8:05 and closed at 8:20 am.
  • Radios (walkie talkies) will accompany classes to recess.
  • Teachers will remind students to not let anyone into the building.
 When you come to the school:
  • Ring the buzzer at the main entrance. When you have been granted access, immediately report to the main office to sign in and receive a visitor badge.
  • Only enter and exit through the main office doors.
  • Respect that we are being vigilant about security.  You may have to wait to be buzzed in to the building and may be asked to show your identification.
  • If you are picking up your child from the nurse, remember to check in with the main office first and sign out when you are leaving.

Students may enter the building only at 8:05 am.  Please do not drop your student off early, unless they are attending one of our before school programs or having breakfast.  The weather is now not conducive to standing outside and students should not be left unsupervised. For more information about our before school program, please visit the Lowell Extended Day Program site.